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This jar is a precious little artistic gem from the brilliant creative mind and talented hands of the world

renowned Hopi pottery matriarch, Nampeyo of Hano (1858-1942). It is ancient and strikingly modern at the same time, harkening back to a much earlier era of ancient Hopi pottery, yet introducing bold new design treatments of its own.

In the latter decades of the 19th century, Nampeyo and several of her fellow contemporary Hopi potters initiated what is now generally referred to as "The Sikyatki Revival” of pottery at Hopi re-introducing and re-interpreting the extraordinary ancient Hopi pottery type of Sikyatki Polychrome (c.1375-1625 A.D.), as seen below, known for its swooping shapes and extravagantly painted designs. Sikyatki Polychrome pottery is generally considered today to be the finest pottery type ever made on the North American continent and considered fully consistent with or better artistically and technically than the other world-renowned ceramic types such as ancient Greek Athenian pottery Kraters, Chinese porcelains and ancient Mayan and Peruvian Nazca glyphic pottery vessels.

“When I first began to paint, I used to go to the ancient village and pick up

pieces of pottery and copy the designs. That is how I learned to paint. But now,

I just close my eyes and see designs and I paint them.”

-Nampeyo

Above left, a Hopi San Bernardo Polychrome four-color pottery jar with "Eagle Tail" design, c. 1680-1700 A.D. Above center, a Sikyatki Polychrome low-profile jar with "Eagle Tail" designs, c. 1450-1500. Above right, a Payupki Polychrome pottery jar, c. 1700-1720.

Center photo source and © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, photo by Randy Dodson.

Above left, "Mrs. Nampeyo, an acknowledged best Hopi indian woman Pottery maker 1st Mesa Hopiland, Ariz. Sichomovi."

R. Raffius, 1905 photo source and © Keystone-Mast Collection, UCR/California

Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside

In terms of specific pottery typology, this jar is a late-period Polacca Polychrome “Style D” jar dating from 1890-95 as evidenced by its thick white Kaolin clay slip with just a very slight crackling to the surface. Within a few years time, five to ten years at most, this crackled slip would disappear from use entirely in Hopi ceramics and the ensuing pottery type which continues to this day would be technically referred to as Hano or Hopi Polychrome.

A few words about the jar’s interesting shape. It is a low-profile shape considerably wider than tall reflective of its Sikyatki-Period flat-jar inspiration. The jar’s shape with its mushroom-like overhanging shoulder also owes something to somewhat later, and also distinguished types of historic Hopi pottery, known as San Bernardo Polychrome and Payupki Polychrome, which were made from around 1680-1720 for San Bernardo and from 1700 to 1780 for Payupki.

The jar is beautifully potted and formed and very finely stone polished. The distinctively polychrome painted decorative design is divided into three main symmetrical, similarly-zoned design panels each of which features a unique and beautifully rendered scroll-like floral elements which are each slight and subtle variations of each other and each of which is variously rendered in black and red paints. The three design panels are nicely divided by double vertical framing lines and the jar is handsomely topped with a beautifully painted red rim.

And if all that unique goodness were not enough, let’s add in in the jar’s unique and most excellent provenance.

It came from the collection of one of the world’s most distinguished experts on and scholars of Nampeyo pottery, the late Martha Hopkins Struever (1931-2017) of Santa Fe. Marti was a longtime friend and professional colleague of ours and we can personally attest to the breadth and depth of her extraordinary knowledge and taste regarding Nampeyo pottery. Marti previously sold this jar to a private collection in 2015 and we recently acquired it from that collection. A copy of the sales receipt from that previous sale will be included along with the purchase of this jar.

The jar bears the word “Moyal” written in thick pencil in an unknown hand on the underside. Some in the Native Arts field have interpreted this term as being a reference to the jar’s distinctive three-panel design with floral and scroll-like elements suggesting Moths or Butterfly motifs. There is also an unknown collection number written on

a paper tag whose origin is also unknown. Some distinctive fire-clouding can also be seen on the jar's bottom.

The jar measures 6 3/4” inches in diameter and it is 3 1/2" in height. The jar is in remarkably excellent original condition with no cracks, no chips, no restoration and no overpainting in evidence under a thorough Ultraviolet

light examination, quite notably excellent condition indeed for a 130-135 or so year-old Pueblo pottery vessel.

We have bought, sold and collected some several hundred fine historic Hopi pottery pieces over the past forty-plus years and we can honestly say that this sweet little jewel of a jar is one of the most distinctive and beautiful of all of these. It might be somewhat small in stature, but its artistic and historic impact is extremely impressive, one might even call it “mighty”.

SOLD

Above left, the late Martha Hopkins Struever in her Santa Fe home, c. 2015. At right, the original Martha Hopkins Struever invoice for the

sale of this Nampeyo jar. A copy of this invoice will be included in the sale of the jar. The purchaser's name and address has been redacted for privacy. This jar is listed as the second item, #X6151, on the invoice. Note that the jar was sold by Struever for $3,200 in 2015.

An exceptional Hopi Polacca Polychrome pottery jar by Nampeyo of Hano, c.1890's

ex: Martha Hopkins Struever Collection, Santa Fe, 2015